Stronger, directed by David Gordon Green (Manglehorn, Joe) and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, hits Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand December 19 via Lionsgate. An Oscar nominee for his work in the Los Angeles set thriller Nightcrawler, Gyllenhaal is definitely receiving his share of awards talk for Stronger.

The film is based on the true story of Jeff Bauman, a Bostonian who lost both of his legs at the 2013 marathon. Bauman, who helped law enforcement identify one of the bombers, was hailed as a hero due to his “Boston Strong” mentality, and the reality behind his tragic yet ultimately determined journey is captured to vivid effect by Gyllenhaal and Green. The film, based on Bauman’s bestselling memoir, co-stars Miranda Richardson and Clancy Brown.

Extras on the Blu-ray and DVD include the featurette “Faith, Hope & Love: Becoming Stronger.”

Brian Cox, best known for his role as Hannibal in Manhunter, delivered one of his most challenging performances this year as Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Churchill. The feature hits Blu-ray and DVD October 3 via Cohen Media Group.

Directed by Jonathan Teplitzky (The Railway Man), the project centers on Churchill’s challenges in embarking on D-Day. With close to one million Allied soldiers in the south coast of England ready to storm the beaches of Normandy, France, the operation is set in place. However, Churchill is fearful of repeating the tragedy of World War I’s Battle of Gallipoli which led to over 500,000 casualties. Mad Men’s John Slattery co-stars as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Miranda Richardson (Belle, TV’s Rubicon) is Churchill’s wife Clementine.

Special features on both the Blu-ray and DVD include a featurette on the making of the film.

Jake Gyllenhaal teams up with filmmaker David Gordon Green in the upcoming film Stronger. The true story centers on Jeff Bauman (Gyllenhaal), a 27-year-old who lost both his legs at the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Bauman, who attended the marathon to win back his ex-girlfriend Erin (Tatiana Maslany), ended up helping officers identify one of the bombers.

The narrative focuses on Bauman’s physical and emotional rehabilitation, as his determination and iron will exemplifies the term “Boston Strong.”

After the character rich studies inManglehornand Prince Avalanche, Gordon Green directed the underrated Sandra Bullock drama Our Brand Is Crisis. From the looks of the trailer, Stronger should continue the filmmaker’s creative momentum, even if audiences may shy away from another movie about the event. Patriots Day, the Mark Wahlberg headlined feature that centered on the hunt for the terrorists involved in the bombing, made just $31 million domestically when it was released earlier this year.

Actress Miranda Richardson was in Los Angeles this week to promote the documentary Turtle: The Incredible Journey. The project takes a look at the perilous and inspiring 25-year journey of a loggerhead turtle through the vast Atlantic Ocean. “By the grace of these wonderful cameramen and people funding these documentaries, we get to see secret worlds and learn more and understand,” said Richardson, who narrates the film. “Perhaps use our imagination, which is always a bonus. And then species have a chance because people go ‘Oh we shouldn’t be doing this’ or ‘When I drop that piece of garbage that actually has an effect because this could happen.'”

During the interview, Richardson was asked about her thoughts on the monumental success of the Harry Potterfilms (she plays Rita Skeeter in the series). “I shouldn’t be surprised by now I suppose, but I am constantly surprised. I do think it’s great from a kids’ point of view because they are engaging in storytelling and character, and also books as well as film.”

Click on the media bar and listen to Richardson talk about author J.K. Rowling.

In Made in Dagenham, Miranda Richardson gives a scene stealing performance as Barbara Castle, the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity. In 1970, she helped push forth the Equal Pay Act, after being inspired by the 187 female sewing machinists from Dagenham’s Ford car plant who went on strike to demand a fair wage. Richardson sat down at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills with co-star Sally Hawkins (she plays Rita, the woman who serves as the machinists’ main leader) to talk about playing a real life figure. “Every day in whatever situation, (Barbara) is trying to make it better for people and she is a collaborator,” said Richardson, who is getting a bit of Oscar buzz for her work in the film, which opens in New York and Los Angeles November 19th. ” A great contributor. What a life, a life well lived. I bet she was still sparking the day she died, quite frankly. All these adverts about not smoking, she was a resolute smoker and she made it to 92. It’s enough to make people pause for thought. But we chose not to show that in the movie! You get into trouble for that, don’t you?”

The actress, whose other credits include Kansas Cityand The Crying Game, was also featured in the first (and last) season of the AMC series Rubicon. The show dealt with an intelligence analyst (The Pacific’s James Badge Dale) who believes his employer (a think tank named the American Policy Institute) is orchestrating various worldwide events. Richardson played Katherine Rhumor, a woman determined to uncover the mystery surrounding her husband’s suicide. “Well, a very interesting experiment for me. I had never done anything like it before,” recalled Richardson. “It’s not a way I particularly thought I would enjoy working, but actually there are quite a lot of exciting things about it. The spontaneity about it. The fact that it’s AMC was the big thing and they are doing such great stuff at the moment. So you know the production values are going to be great. The writing is going to be great. The crew was phenomenal I have to say. And on location in New York and not quite knowing what was coming through the door at any given week was quite refreshing. You’ve got to think on your feet a lot. There were a lot of pluses about it, yeah.” If you still haven’t seen the conclusion of or are interested in watching Rubicon, please stop here…since there is a big SPOILER ALERT.

Being a huge fan of the series, I asked Richardson what foreign substance killed Katherine in the middle of Central Park during the series finale (Sally Hawkins can be heard in the background):

On Thursday, AMC announced they were canceling Rubicon, so a new batch of episodes featuring a revamped API team, along with Will Travers’ inevitable hook-up with Maggie Young (Jessica Collins), will only exist in our collective imagination. AMC released the following statement regarding its decision: “Rubicongave us an opportunity to tell a rich and compelling story, and we’re proud of the series. This was not an easy decision, but we are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such a phenomenally talented and dedicated team.”